Safety device for motor vehicles and the like



1935. B. SALSA 1,986,314

SAFETY DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES AND THE LIKE Fil ed Dec. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I] I W z; w w m W?- iQMi /W of WW w Jan. 1, 1935. B. BALSA SAFETY DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ian. 1, 1935. B. BALSA SAFETY DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec, 3, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 M i 3 w a i Z mm/ W WW 5 a w a 6 Jan. 1, 1935. B. BALSA 1,986,314

SAFETY DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 T ig. 6' r Patented-Jan. 1, 1935 I I :9 I i Q I. v

UNI ED QF E' SAFETY Davies Fort Moron. vEmoLns 1 A KE .Bautista BaISaJBuenos Aires, Mgenti Q,

7 Application December a, 1932, Serial No. 645,623 In Argentina; September17, 1932 The present invention refers toianew safety the latter is'clamped between parts and '7. The device which may be applied to'automobile ve-L support 5 carries an upper flange 8 bearing'on hicles of any kind and has for itsobject the prothe edge of theupper bar of thebumper and two vision of a .safetydevice whose operation-shall rearwardly directed vertical wingsQ which serve 5 be absolutelyreliableand automaticdwliich 'shall to -support the operating device. This device 5 not interfere with therunning of the vehicid 'sliall comprises two-verticalpieces (one on each supnot be bulky nor of unzesthetic appearanee, but port 5):- articulated on a horizontal pin '11 carried cheapand simple to construct andea'sy to fit. 1 by the' wings 9'of said support 5 and terminating This apparatus comprises essentially'an extenattheir lower end in a hook '12. 10 sible. trellis located below the front bumpers and Its upper part 13 carriesthe'h'orizontal bumper l0. normally retained in retracted condition by a bar 14 located a short'dista'nce above the bumper. number of detents integral with a pluralitywf A'n'urnber ofleaf-springs 15 mounted on su'p bumper bars located above the bumper, the said ports 5 bear against the rear of the bar 14 so that bar -when receiving an impactfr'om an obstacle, it is normally held in 'a forward direction. in 15' causing, the, release or the: trelliswhichnimmewhich positionthesaid bar is his. vertical plane diately extends itself down to thelgroundpthus forwarder the bumper, so that the person run covering the space in front of .thevehicle wheels into will strike it" before hitting the bumper, and preventing the person hit from being run whereby-the blow is already deadened and at the over. i same time the safety device will be operated. The

For the better understanding the invention: saidbar preferably has a half-tubular section so 0 and of the manner in which the' same is to be as not to presentangular parts capablekof' doing performed it has been illustrated by wa'yiof exinjury and its ends will, for the same purpose be ample intheaccompanyingdrawingsinwhich?" bent-towards the rear as seen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 is a front view of one form offthe safety Springs 15 carry at their ends anadjusting device which is the object of the present invention, screw 15' which engages a rearward portion of 25 mounted on a motor-canand illustrated in its the" bar 14 and allows the pressure of the-spring raised position. 1 i F onthebar to be regulated. Y e 1 Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. J 1 I flhe'iprotective part of the device consists of Fig. 3 is a more detailed front. view oi'the same a; kind: of articulated trellis which is extensible in its lowered position. 5 I and is zfo rmed of-hor-izontal bars 16 connected 30 d Fig. 4 is a section along A A in'Fig.3, with the: together by diagonal bars 1'? forming the lazyaddition, in diagrammaticxferm,;.of; adevice for tongsor articulated parallelograms which permit releasing the trellis from the drivers seat. :1 ofthe extensionand collapse of the trellis. These Fig.5 is a part view from. the rear correspondbars =l6' each consist oftwo U-irons riveted toing to Fig. 3. I r j Fig. 6 represents another, type of extensible other'by rivets '18 in such a manner that a space trellis. v I remains between their legs in which bars 17 In all of the. said figures the same-reference may-move. The latter are secured to the said characters indicate like and correspondingparts'. bars by meansof'pins 19 and carry at their ends 40 Referring to Figs. 1 to 5,- there is mountedupon rollers: or pins 20 adapted town in the channels amotor vehicle, indicated by the general'numeralformed b'y the U-irons. V I 1, in the usual manner, a front bumper 2 of the. 'Iheupper'bar 16 is securedto another adjacent known type having plane-bars, bymeanslof its bar-.421 situated above the former by means'of rear plane bar 3 and thasupp'orts v4;whichl conthe connecting strips 21. This bar 21 is in its nect it tothe ends of the frame members. .11:-

turn mo-urited on-two' supports 22 secured to the The safety apparatus is securedcto :the said. supportsfi. Saidsupports 22 act moreover as bumper insuch; wise that the part thereof which. guides' forthe' trellis in its collapsed position for is intended to protect the personis situated below which purpose they are provided with two verthe bumper and the'operative part is positioned ticalarms-22f joined together in theirupper parts thereabova o I 15: and leaving between them an opening in their The parts are thus securediby means-pf two. lower parts between which the collapsed trellis supports 5 fixedly mounted behind the bumper is positionedascan be seenin'Fig; 4. at a certain distance-from each'end thereof by The lower bar 16 carries in its turn a rounded means of a pint and a supporting plate 7 disbar 23 positioned slightly lower and more for- V l t din front of the bumper inpsuchwiseithat wardly than the former. the said'bar 23 acting as 1 gether with their channel parts'opposing each 35 a shaft for the freely rotatable rollers 24 disposed end to end along the whole width of the safety device. These rollers are preferably covered on their outside with rubber. The location of said rounded bar is such that, when the trellis is in collapsed condition, it engages with the hooks 12 ofthe actuating device thus keeping the trellis raised. V

In order, to maintain the rigidity of the expanded trellis, in the vertical plane, and to obtain a rapid expansion there are provided two arms 25. movably mounted atone end on the rearward portion of each support 22 as shown at 26, and

having at the other end a longitudinal groove 27 in which moves a stud 28 fixed to the rearward part of the lower bar 16. The movably mounted end of said arm is slightlyprolonged beyond the pin 26 and is connected to the end of a tension spring 29 fastened at its other end to the general support 5. This spring tends to cause the arm 25to move downwardly and to expand'the trellis connected to the end of said arm. The latter movesin a vertical plane parallel to the trellis .and thus assists in maintaining the latter rigid in agvertical direction. The arms 25 carry in the bottom of their groove 27, an adjusting screw 31 adapted to make contact with the stud 28 and permitting the desired amount of drop, of the trellis to be easily adjusted, stoppingit at a short distance from the ground if it is not desired that itshould make contact therewith. In this way the need for constructing and adapting an arm 25 for each type of car-is obviated.

In addition to the extensible trellis, which serves to. protect people from falling under the wheels of the vehicle, another protecting element is provided intended'to prevent people from striking the upper parts" of the car, such as the head-lamps and'the radiator. 1

p This element comprises a horizontal bar 32 located in parallel spaced relation with respect to'the bumper bar 14 on a level with the upper part of the head-lamps and a little further to the rear'than said bar 14. The bar 32 is supported by two oscillating arms 33 each of which is mounted on one of the wings 9 of each ofthe supports 5 in such a way that they can rock from front to rear in a manner similar to the bar .14. In order to hold said bar normally in a. forward position and to provide a shock-absorbing efiect, there is disposed on each support 5 a helicalcompression spring 34 which at one end bearsagainst a projection 35 of the arm 33 and at the other, against a bearing surface 36 integral :.with the support 5. In order to limit-the forward move-- ment of the bar 32, there are provided, integral with projections 35, the retention rods ,37, which pass through the springs 34 in order, at the same.

time, to act as guides for the latter, and project through the end of the bearing surface 36 carrying at their threaded end a nut 37' so as to adjust the forward position of said bar 32.

Fig. 6 shows a type of trellis simpler and more economical and flexible than that hereinbefore described, which may be suitable for different cases. Apart fromthe design of the trellis itself, the apparatus as a whole is not changed, wherefore it will be sufficient to describe only the trellis. This comprises two horizontal bars 16, the upper one of which is fixedly secured to the sup,- port 22 and the lower one of which carries, as in the previous case, the bar 23 with'its rollers 24. These two bars 16 carry at their ends andin the middle, a number of fixed vertical-plates 38,

, each one ofi which bears a] pin 39, on which one of the movable bars of the trellis is mounted. Each one of the ends of the bars 16' is thus connected to the opposite end of the other by means of a diagonal movable arm 40 provided at its end with a longitudinal groove 41 in order to allow of its displacement relative to pin 39. There are thus two arms 40 which are loosely connected one tothe, other at their. mid-points by means of apin42.

On the central pin of each bar 16' there are loosely mounted at their ends, two arms 43 the other ends of which are loosely coupled to the corresponding ends of the opposite pair of similar arms, by means of a pin 44.

In Fig. 4 thereis diagrammatically shown an accessory which allows the driver to operate the apparatus at will. To this end, there is provided a-cable 45 attached to the centre of the bumper- ,controloleveris pivotally mounted on a clip 52 clamped to? the steering column and provided with astop. 53 for retaining said lever in its inoperative position as indicated in Fig. .4 in which it may be seized by the hand and raised in order to impart to the cablethe pull necessary to free the trellis.

, The operation of the safety device is easyto understand. H

aWhenthe bumper-bar 14 receives a backwardly directedv blow, due to striking an individual, it will displace the vertical parts .10, overcoming the action of the springs 15, which at the same time deaden the blow, and causing :the hooks 11 to release the rounded. bar 23 which allows of the instantaneous expansion of the trellis under'the combined action of gravity and of the springs 29. The rollers 24 prevent the bar 23 from coming into contactwith the'g'round, and permit the trellis torun freely over the ground'on a par with the automobile; r

The .expandedptrellis constitutes, as will be understood, as it were, a vertical wall which at all points makes it impossible for-a person who has been run into to fall under the wheels of the vehicle. The height' of the bumper-bar '14 is such that it will ensure the operation of the apparatus in all casesbecause even a child or a person .who has fallen will always manage to touchit.

-As far asthe upper shock-absorbing bar 32 is concerned, it will, in addition, prevent taller persons from strikingthe radiator or the head-lamps.

In those equipments in which there is provided the device which permits the driver to operate the apparatus at will, even greater safety will be obtained, since the driver, if he pays attention, could let the "trellis drop before the collision occurs. I i a I .On the other hand, the lower bar 14 does not run the risk of being struck by another car and of bringing about an untimely drop of the trellis because'it is at a sufiicientheight not to come into contact with any bumpers in normal position.

Moreover, the trellis,in its raised position, does notin'any way interfere withthe running of the bars located-above and below the bumper which are thus almost taken for a part thereof, the remaining members of its simple mechanism being hidden in the rearward portion.

The fitting of this apparatus, as hasbeen seen, necessitates no modification in the vehicle since it is secured by two pins to the bumper.

Only a small modification in the supporting members 5 will be necessary to adapt the apparatus to any normal type of bumper, whether it be for a motor-car, a lorry or an omnibus.

It is clear that various modifications may be made in the construction and details without thereby departing from the spirit of the invention, which is clearly ascertained in the claims which follow the present description.

Having now particularly ascertained and described the nature of the present invention and the manner in which it is to be performed what is claimed as exclusive property and right is:

l. A new safety device for automobile vehicles comprising in combination a vertically expansible trellis, a pair of supports for said trellis, a

pair of arms depending from a. bumper-bar and pivotally mounted on said supports, and a forwardly spring-biased shock absorber bar located above and rearwardly of said bumper and having a pair of depending arms pivotally mounted to said supports independently of the arms of said bumper-bar.

2. A new safety device for automobile vehicles comprising an extensible trellis having a fixed upper portion and a lower portion normally retained in a raised position corresponding to collapsed position of the trellis, arms oscillating in a vertical plane parallel to said trellis, located immediately therebehind and loosely connectedto the fixed upper portion thereof, and whose free ends carry each a longitudinal groove, studs on the lower portion of the trellis adapted to engage in said grooves, said arms being spring biased to expand said trellis and adapted to act as a reinforcement therefor to keep it in a vertical plane 20 when expanded.

BAUTISTA BALSA. 

